Alvaro Diving Courses Koh Tao

Here are some of the many dive sites you will find around the island of Koh Tao. In total there are more than 35 dive sites that we regularly visit, depending much on the time of year, the season and the weather conditions. In general the dive sites on the east cost of Koh Tao are better for diving during the months from April to October. When the wind direction changes we find the better diving conditions and the far better visibility on the west coast of Koh Tao. Some of the outer pinnacles such as Sailrock, Chumphon Pinnacle and South-West Pinnacle are mainly influenced by the weather conditions and not so much by the season. These are the dive sites where you will have the best chance of seeing Whale Sharks, Leopard Sharks, Grey Reef Sharks and even Bull Sharks. Below we have added some descriptions and pictures of Koh Tao’s best dive sites, enjoy.

The new Wreck of the HTMS Sattakut 742

The landing craft was built in 1943 by the ‘Commercial Iron Works’ in Portland, Oregon USA. She was launched on the 27th of February 1944 and commissioned as the USS LCI (L) – 739 on the 6th of March 1944. The vessel was to be assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theatre of operations. It was exactly 6 months later when the LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) -739 saw her first action as part of the capture and occupation of the Southern Palau islands. The campaign was known as the ‘Western Caroline islands’ operation and lasted until October 14th 1944. She was re-classified as a ‘Gunboat’ on the 31st of December 1944 before seeing action again in the assault and occupation of Iwo Jima. The Iwo Jima operation lasted from the 19th of February to the 3rd March 1945. From the 26th of March to the 14th June 1945 she was part of the ‘Okinawa Gunto Operation’. During which time the vessel was again re-classified to a ‘mortar’ boat. At the close of the war the USS LCI (L) (G) (M) 739 received 3 battle stars for its service during the above campaigns.

In 1947 she was decommissioned and acquired by the Royal Thai Navy as HTMS Sattakut LCI 742.

The HTMS (His Thai Majesty’s Ship ) Sattakut found her final resting place on the 18 June 2011 on the west coast of Koh Tao, close to the dive site Hin Pee Wee on a dept of 30m. The new wreck dive site is a perfect place for advanced divers and those who want to do their wreck specialty courses here on Koh Tao.
Here a short video of the wreck taken just a few hours after the sinking.

Chumphon Pinnacle

One of Koh Tao’s premier dive sites, Chumphon Pinnacle, is also one of the best places to see Whale Sharks. Chumphon Pinnacle has the highest number of Whale Shark sightings on Koh Tao. Nevertheless, this dive site and can also be of the island’s most challenging dive sites with occasionally strong currents. On New Year’s Eve we made two exciting dives on this awesome dive site and found a baby Whale Shark (3.2m) and twelve spectacular Bull Sharks and a Sailfish on one single day. On Chumphon Pinnacle you never know what you may find, the dive site is always good for surprises! Ranging from a depths of 14m to 36m, Chumphon Pinnacle is a magnet for most of Thailand’s oceanic marine species which are found schooling and hunting around the pinnacle in large numbers on most days.

The site is host to a wide variety of pelagic and reef fish; you can find schools of 100 or more 1 meter Barracudas, King Mackerels, Travallies and Tuna all year around. At the depth of around 20 – 22 meters and further down you can find huge Potato Groupers and other Groupers alike. A most common visitor on Chumphon Pinnacle are the Whale Sharks and most excitingly, in the “rainy season” from October to January we have up to 20 Bull Sharks on the Pinnacle which make this their main residence and Koh Tao to one of only two places in the world where you can dive with Bull Sharks without being in a cage. Since the dive site is a fair distance offshore, incredible visitors from the open ocean can be expected at any time and are an unpredictable treat; Sailfish, Blue Marlins, Oceanic White Tip Sharks and even Bridal- and Pilot Whales have been spotted often on Chumphon Pinnacle.

South West Pinnacle

Another sure-fire Alvaro favorite dive site is South-West Pinnacle. It’s a fantastic triangular deep water pinnacle formation ranging from 4m to 30m depth making it another top five sites that you have to see when you are diving Koh Tao. The pinnacles’ peaks are covered with a carpet of anemones in brilliant greens, pinks and blues, with their cavalcade of Pink Anemone Fish augmented by the occasional Black-Tail Damsel Fish. Watching the anemones and their inhabitants on the safety stop makes you forget the otherwise rather boring 3 minutes quickly. Diving South-West Pinnacle often reminds on diving in a fish soup because of the large schools of Travallies surrounding the boulders of the pinnacle! As we mentioned earlier, South-West Pinnacle is also another great place to see Whale Sharks.

If it is your lucky day and you’re diving on South-West Pinnacle, you have a good chance to spot some of the occasional visitors, such as Bridal Whales and Pilot Whales, Green Turtles, Haksbill Turtles, Marlins, Leopard Sharks and sometimes even Bull Sharks and Pelagic White Tips. Although rarely, but nevertheless worth mentioning, are the occasional visits of Bottle-Nose Dolphins. Overall this amazing dive site is home to large schools of Snappers, Yellow-Tail Barracudas, as well as Fusiliers. Currently we have a massive school of .young Yellow Snapper and often a a few hundred Chevron Barracuda. Large Groupers can be seen below, along with Scribbled File Fish and Masked Porcupine Fish starring at you with their big eyes. The observant diver may spot Scorpion Fish and Stone Fish well camouflaged looking like the rocks they sit on.

Sail Rock

Halfway to Koh Phangan is Sail Rock, one of the top dive sites in reach of Koh Tao. Sail Rock is a single rock formation that protrudes about 5 meters out of the water. Although Alvaro Diving in Koh Tao doesn’t visit Sail Rock as often as other dive sites around the island, because of the long way on the boat and the weather conditions, diving Sailrock is well worth the trip every time and we try to go there as often as the circumstances permit.
This site features “The Chimney” – a most famous vertical tunnel in the rock that leads you from 8 to 18 meters depth. The entire divesite, from the surface to a depth of 45m, is teeming with oceanic life in vast numbers. One of the many highlights is a resident giant moray, the only one known on Koh Tao.

Nevertheless, the macro life of Sail Rock is also very special. You can find exciting animals, such as Sea Horses and the well camouflaged Anemone Shrimp which are dotted around at all depths. The rock itself is riddled with crevices and holes which makes a perfect habitat for White Eyed and Yellow Margin Moray Eels, and the large anemones covering th rocks provide a spectacularly colorful backdrop.
Whale Sharks are often spotted, and identified for scientific purposes, on Sail Rock but also keep an eye out for other large pelagic sharks which pass by on their mysterious migrations. For the eagle eyed diver with a bit of luck there is another treat at Sail Rock, Alvaro Diving often see Octopus here although they camouflage themselves so perfectly, to match the covering of the rock that you can miss them completely.

Shark Island

Shark Island is possibly Koh Tao’s most varied divesite and therefor finds easily it’s way in the Alvaro Diving top five dive sites of Koh Tao. Shark Island is a small island just to the southeast of the island of Koh Tao. It is inhabited only by Seagulls and other birds and it attracts a wonderful variety of oceanic & coastal marine life. Shark island has got it’s name not because of the many sharks around the island but more because of it’s shape that looks like a huge shark fin coming out of the ocean. Sloping gently from the surface down to the depths of 25 meters, there is always something new to see on Shark Island, including some of the Gulf of Thailand’s most stunning purple soft corals and sponges full of white Nudy Brunches. A large Green Turtle often shelters in the lee of the island when the wind is strong and Haksbill Turtles are regular visitors to the island.

Major schools of barracudas and Travallies are seen not just by divers but by many inquisitive Bat Fish, whom often follow Alvaro Diving groups for whole dives. White Eyed Moray Eels, Blue Spotted Ribbon Tail Rays, Porcupines and huge Puffer Fish, and an enormous variety of reef fish are almost guaranteed in the beautiful shallow coral garden. The fortunate may also see Whale Sharks, Leopard Sharks, Gray Reef Sharks or Bull Sharks and other Pelagic Sharks in the deeper areas of Shark Island. Although sometimes there is quite some current around Shark Island, this dive site is also an ideal place for training dives for our diving courses on Koh Tao as it makes the perfect spot for Naturalist and Fish Identification courses as well as Digital Photography courses.

Green Rock

Green Rock lays in the north of Koh Tao or actually Koh Nang Yuan, the paradise island located on the outskirts of Ko Tao. The dive site consists mainly of granite boulders that have tumbled from the smaller island of Koh Nang Yuan and created a dive site that is enduringly popular with the many professional divers of Koh Tao. The enormous boulders have formed many small caves and a multitude of swim troughs at Green Rock ranging in depth from 4 meters beside the main rock itself, down to 28 meters and than deeper into the sea. The side of Green Rock, facing Koh Nang Yuan, is home of many Yellow Margin Trigger Fish and some Giant Titan Triggers who are building their nests in the sandy spots between the island and the dive site. The area is called “Trigger Field” and best practice is to watch the Trigger Fish from a respectful distance.

Green Rock is home to many brightly colored Nudy Brunches, omnipresent, startling divers with their harlequin appearance as they glide through a tunnel. This is a great dive site for seeing a variety of Moray Eels, and the less common Angel- and Butterfly Fish and Sweetlips in action. Gray Reef Sharks and Black Tip Reef Sharks can be seen from time to time, and at the deeper end of the site large Potato Groupers and schools of Yellow Tail Barracudas, Fusilier and Silverfish can be observed. Look out for Needle-Nose Hound Fish hunting on the surface near the rock on your safety stop and the occasional visit by Nang Yuan’s northern Haksbill Turtles. Green Rock also makes up for another dive site where Whale Sharks are regular visitors, coming from Chumphon Pinnacle on their way to Shark Island or South-West Pinnacle.

See more dive site descriptions here.